iHave To Move On
by PD31
Summary: When tragedy strikes the Benson household Freddie feels that Seattle is no longer home for him. Can help arrive from the unlikeliest of sources?
1. Prologue

**iHave To Move On**

**Summary: **When tragedy strikes the Benson household Freddie feels that Seattle is no longer home for him. Can help arrive from the unlikeliest of sources?

**AN: **Hello everyone and welcome to my new story. I would like to thank Challenge King for being the inspiration behind this particular one. In context of the shows' timelines this chapter begins approximately three weeks after iParty With Victorious. No other episodes of either show have taken place as it will be slightly non-linear (you'll see if you stick with it).

**Disclaimer:** I _still_ don't own iCarly, Victorious, any of the episodes or any of the characters.

* * *

_Lake View Cemetery_

_Seattle, WA_

_Friday July 1, 2011_

The tears coursed down Fredward "Freddie" Benson's cheeks; they had barely stopped since he had been given the news. Had it not been for the brunette who had dropped everything and rushed to his side as soon as she heard the news and had barely left it since, he wasn't sure how he would have survived the last couple of days. She had been the only thing keeping him even remotely together; words, he knew, could never express his gratitude to her for her actions and just her _presence_, her _being there_ for him. She was there now, of course, still by his side as he stared at the coffin containing his mother's lifeless body as it was lowered into the freshly-dug hole. She looked to her right and her heart broke anew; feeling completely at a loss for anything else to do she pulled him into a tight hug and held him as any last vestige of his resolve broke. She stood and patted his back awkwardly as she looked around at the small gathering; she knew many of them, of course, as they had flown up from Los Angeles to be with their new-found friend in his hour of need. The lack of a certain blonde's presence became all the more evident as she turned to look at the knot of people who were his friends from school and from his other interests in Seattle. Her absence drew a new frown of disgust from the brunette before she turned her attention back to the weeping boy in her arms as the priest approached them.

"Are you ready, Freddie?" he asked softly, placing a hand gently on the brown-haired teen's arm.

Freddie wiped his eyes on his shirt sleeves and nodded at the elderly man, taking in a number of rasping breaths as he did. He looked to the girl who had become his rock over the past few days. She gave him a wan smile in an attempt to reassure him and squeezed his hand. He tried to smile back at her but his jaw just tightened; he squeezed her hand softly instead.

With great reluctance the pretty brunette let go of his hand; he followed the priest to the side of the grave with her barely a pace behind him. He gathered up a handful of earth with his right hand and looked down at the coffin.

"Goodbye mom," he whispered, put the index and middle fingers of his left hand together, kissed them and waved the hand towards his mother. He then released the earth and watched as it descended to land on top of her coffin.

The girl followed in kind, dropping her own mound of earth into the grave and slipped her hand gently into his. They watched as a line of mourners did likewise; each and every one went up to Freddie afterwards. She had to release his hand, with great reluctance, as most of the girls pulled him into a consoling hug, as did some of the boys – although others settled for a quick hand on his shoulders or a shake of his hand. She smiled at the sight; the situation meant that any jealousy that she may have felt over seeing the boy who, before the tragedy struck, had come to mean a great deal to her being hugged by so many girls (and a few in particular that she could mention) simply wasn't there. This didn't stop her, of course, from taking his hand again once the line had passed. She gave it another soft squeeze and hugged his arm with her free arm. He pulled her close and wrapped his own free arm around her back as his tears started to flow again.

Feeling helpless again, she had no idea how to react. She was content to hold him tight and let him cry out his tears against her chest.

"I'm here for you, Freddie," she whispered.

"We all are," Cat added in a soft, low voice of her own.

Finally he regained something of his composure. He drew back from her so that he could give the red haired girl a grateful nod before he turned back to look into the soft, brown eyes of the girl who held him, the one who had been there for him in his hour of need and he gave her a grateful smile.

"Thank you, Trina, for everything," he whispered.

Trina Vega smiled back at him and pulled him close to her again.

**AN: I hope you enjoyed this little prologue. Please fill in the little box underneath and let me know. It may be a while before I update because I still have a number of other projects I'm working on (particularly my Freddie/Cat story, iSwitch Schools, over in the Victorious section). Once I finish that particular story I intend to pick up this one.**


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Happy New Year everyone. Thank you to all of you who read and reviewed the prologue (FR-88, Subject87, Agent-M, Jeremy Shane, BushwellFan NYC and Challenge King); I hope everyone finds this chapter as enjoyable as many of you found that first one surprising.**

* * *

_Kenan Thompson's House_

_Los Angeles, CA_

_Saturday June 11, 2011_

"When I make it shine," sang Tori Vega.

"Just leave it all to me!" Carly Shay concluded. The two unwitting 'love rivals' embraced warmly as their friends cheered. The two groups, having just sung the unusual song as karaoke together, followed the two girls' lead and began to smile at one another and hug, enjoying the way the party had turned out. Freddie found himself held in a surprisingly strong grip by a brunette in a _very_ short, shocking pink dress; she stood a few inches shorter than he.

"Why the rush, handsome?" she whispered, maintaining her vice-like hold on him as he tried to extricate himself. "Stay here for a while."

"Ok," he shrugged, happy to be in the company of such an attractive girl – especially one who appeared to have some interest in being around him. Her embrace reminded him of the way he used to be around Carly when he was a few years younger. Thinking of the brunette web star caused him to look over; she was still mingling with the Angelenos and wore a smile, though he thought it seemed a little forced – as did Tori's… Tori, another girl who had been getting rather friendly with him since the impromptu web show they had put on earlier in the night. She was freshly out of a hundred-day relationship, though, and she lived over a thousand miles away from him so he immediately dismissed as a non-starter the thought that anything could happen with her. He looked over the other girls from her friendship group, the red-head who seemed a little… unusual, then there was the dark-haired girl who had appeared at the same time as Spencer. Then, of course, the one who had only just released him.

"I'm Trina," she said, huskily, bringing his attention back to her, "Tori's hotter, older sister."

"It's nice to meet you Trina," he said with a grin, "I'm Freddie."

"I know who you are – you're the dreamy one from iCarly," she smiled flirtatiously and tugged on the fingers of his right hand. Her description both amused and delighted him; he really wasn't used to this kind of attention from hot girls.

"Trina!" Tori whined a little as she joined the pair, "don't hog the poor boy." The other Vega sister seized his arm, much to the elder's chagrin and guided him away. "I am _so_ sorry about her."

"She seems nice," he defended the girl.

"Yeah, you need to get to know her… or not if you're lucky. This is Cat," she motioned to the red-velvet haired girl.

"Hello," he greeted her, accepting her exuberant hug.

"And that's Jade," Tori said flatly, pointing at her rival.

"Hello," the newcomer greeted him equally tersely before accepting a quick hug.

Tori introduced him to the boys from the group as well before he suddenly found that Trina was back at his elbow, eager to 'talk' some more; despite Tori throwing her hands up in frustration he was happy to indulge the older girl. What he intended to be a getting-to-know-you talk, however, soon turned into her attempting to suck his face off after she dragged him into a side room away from the main party goers.

"Whoa daddy-oh!" Sam declared as she went after them a minute or so later. The blonde's interruption forced the pair to part; the Angeleno glared at the newcomer angrily for her disturbance, the Seattleite was far from happy with her either. "Much as I hate to interrupt your _fun_, Fredweirdo, Spencer says we need to get going in a few." She smirked before turning on her heel and rejoining the other party-goers.

"Sorry about… her," he sighed as he reluctantly let her go. "Say, what's your video-chat name? It would be great to keep in touch…"

She smiled eagerly and they traded details before Freddie left to gather up his belongings ahead of their return journey. The group all stood by the door to the house to say goodbye to the iCarly gang; Freddie passed on his webchat details, as did the others, to their new friends and promises were made to keep in contact.

* * *

The drive home was a sombre affair for the Seattle natives; after the fun she'd had doing the impromptu webshow, singing together and bonding afterwards with the Hollywood Arts students, the reality of the situation was sinking back in for Carly. Her boyfriend – ex-boyfriend she corrected herself – had been cheating on her for goodness knows how long with another girl. She bowed her head as the LA landscape ended, to be replaced by the deserted open spaces of Southern California. Freddie could see the tears rolling down her cheeks as he watched her with cautious sympathy.

"Hey," he whispered softly, placing a gentle hand on her thigh. She turned to him and wiped her eyes, trying to force herself to smile.

"You'll find him," he told her, "that special guy; the one who'll always treat you right. He's out there somewhere."

Sam narrowed her eyes on the little exchange and shook her head.

"Geez Fredlumps," she cornered him during a rest stop just north of San Francisco, "_every_ time I think you can't get any more desperate, you prove me wrong."

"What do you mean?" he asked in confusion.

She just shook her head at him and went to see if she could get some ham from the store.

* * *

Spencer headed straight for his room and was sound asleep the second they returned to Bushwell Plaza, the kids, meanwhile, had to get ready for school the next day. Freddie was still staying with the Shays as her mother was busy taking care of his aunt; he headed up to the spare room without a word to the girls. Carly looked curiously after him as he left; she turned to Sam as if to seek an explanation for the boy's behaviour. The blonde girl shrugged and raided the fridge.

The tech genius switched on his laptop and loaded up the video-chat software. He was eager to see if his new friend was on-line, or whether she and the others would forget all about the Seattle natives now that they had returned home. He was pleasantly surprised, therefore, that he had seven new contact requests – all of which he accepted happily. He smiled as he saw that Trina was on-line and he made the chat request, broadening his grin when the attractive Angeleno filled the screen; she also wore a broad smile.

"Hey gorgeous," she greeted him flirtatiously. "You got back ok then?"

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago," he suddenly realised just how tired he was and struggled to keep the fatigue from his voice. "So how's things in LA since we left?"

"Fine," the elder Vega girl drawled, "Tori's still upset over Steven." She rolled her eyes as if in disbelief that her 'baby sister' hadn't got over it in the twenty hours or so since the discovery of his two-timing.

"Carly's still upset too," he disclosed, his face falling as he did, "she cried most of the way home. I hate to see her like that."

"Where is she now?" the pretty diva asked curiously.

"Downstairs, I think. Sam's with her so they'll be doing 'girl talk'," he made air quotes and a disgusted face at the thought, much to the brunette's amusement, "about the whole thing. Sam's probably hatching a plot for the next time he's up here in Seattle."

"How are you about the whole thing?" she asked slyly.

"What do you mean?" he tried to plead ignorance or confusion.

"Aww, c'mon Freddie, it's so obvious you like her. Tori and I have watched your show for years and you've never hidden it."

He shrugged and grinned guiltily at his new friend. "I don't know," he conceded honestly as she continued to eye him intently, "for such a long time I really wanted something to happen between us but now…" He shrugged and shook his head. "She was with him for three months and going on about changing her name to his and chizz like that…"

"Tori was talking about how their kids would look," the Angeleno interjected with a roll of her eyes and a shake of her head.

"That's another thing, mentioning Tori," he recalled suddenly. "We got suspicious when we saw the photo of Steven with her on… The Slap?" She confirmed the website's name with a nod of her head. "I told her I thought your sister was attractive so she threw an orange into my back." He gave a hollow laugh as the brunette put on a concerned expression. "I guess that shows how much she thinks about me… 'I don't want you but no-one else can have you'. You're right though; for a long time I'd have done anything for a shot with her," he continued, "then I got one after saving her life…"

"You saved her life?"

"Remember when we stopped the show for a few weeks last year? She was almost hit by a truck; I pushed her out of the way of it and it broke my leg and wrist. She kinda fell in love with me after that but it turned out not to be real. We said we'd try again if she still wanted to once I was out of my casts – clearly she didn't because she ended up with Steven instead. So now, I guess I've been thinking it for a while, and maybe that orange gave me the final shove; it's time to stop waiting and hoping that she'll somehow realise I'm right here and actually move on from her."

"Well I'm sure the girls will be queuing up once you announce that," she smiled.

"They were at webicon," he laughed.

Trina bit her lip. "It's a shame you're so far away; I'd make sure I was first in the line."

He raised his eyebrows and smiled at his giggling friend.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, hopefully a little more insight into how these two began to get to know one another. Please let me know what I thought and I hope to update soon. PD.**


	3. Chapter 2

__**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of this story; I hope you all had a good week. My thanks first of all to everyone who read and reviewed chapter 1 so...**

** Challenge King, I'm glad you liked the mutual attraction between them. **

**Fanfic Reader 88, I hope some of the reason for her character development becomes apparent as we go along here. As you said in your (much appreciated) detailed review, yes she was very much Trina in that she started liking him for his physical attributes but something deeper will begin to occur as we progress. As for Freddie/Sam and Freddie/Tori - again, time will tell how things transpire between those pairings and what they feel about the whole situation.  
**

** Agent-M, I'm glad you're looking forward to this - and here is some more...  
**

* * *

_Ridgeway Junior High School, Seattle, WA._

_Monday, June 13, 2011_

The students at Ridgeway Junior High were currently having a short break between classes; Freddie was leaning against his locker while Sam and Carly stood next to hers. The girls were talking idly about something or other; Carly's spirits were still fairly low following the previous weekend and the whole "Steven" thing while Sam did her best to improve her best friend's mood with various discussions of potential schemes that she wanted to involve herself in (whether or not the schemes, or her interest, were real was something she kept from her). If nothing else, the blonde had realised, this would distract the brunette by making her focus her attention on keeping her best friend out of trouble, rather than spending her time brooding on the events of the past weekend.

A beep of Freddie's pearphone attracted the girls' attention, as did his snigger. To her chagrin Carly realised that the boy had been completely ignoring their conversation and that he continued to ignore them while he tapped away at the device and sent off a reply.

"Who texted you?" the web star demanded of her tech producer.

"Oh, Trina," he answered distractedly, sparing the pair a quick glance before turning back to his phone as it beeped again and firing off another text.

"That chick you were making out with at the party?" Sam piped up. Carly looked to her in astonishment; she had missed this little development with her own troubles that night.

The brown-haired boy shrugged. "We hit it off and we're keeping in touch. Well, I am with _all_ of the kids that we met at the weekend but Trina…" he whistled and his eyes lost focus. He turned back to his phone as it beeped yet again. He turned slightly and subconsciously took a couple of steps away from his friends, shielding the phone from them with his body as they looked at him. Carly walked up to him and tried to peer over his shoulder, prying at his text conversation. The blonde eyed her balefully before rolling her eyes. _Here we go again_, she thought and sighed audibly.

Luckily for Sam the bell sounded a couple of moments later; she seized Carly by the coat and hauled the brunette away. Her co-hostess protested as she dragged her and she kept her eyes on Freddie, who was either unaware or not caring that the girls were leaving him, as he continued to send and receive messages.

"Get to class people," called a teacher as he walked from the staff room towards his own next lesson. Freddie raised his head and looked around, finally realising that the girls had left him alone. He reluctantly slipped his phone into the pocket of his jeans and made his way to class.

Eleven hundred miles to the south Trina Vega sat in her singing class (not that she felt she needed _lessons_ in singing, given her indisputable natural aptitude and talent). She instead ignored the lesson going on around her (the teacher and her classmates were not too upset about this as it allowed them to get on with things in relative peace). Her smile broadened with every new text she received from the Seattle-based tech producer, though she frowned slightly at the thought that he was so far away from her. She had enjoyed meeting him (and making out) at the weekend so much, it was a rarity for her to be in the company of a male who enjoyed her attention, that she longed to see him again. Video chats were great but she really hoped circumstances would come about that let them meet up again in the flesh sooner rather than later.

"He _made out_ with her?" Carly demanded hotly as she and Sam sat together in the classroom.

The blonde shrugged; she felt no loyalty towards Freddie but was rather annoyed by her co-host's reaction to the news.

"If she's crazy enough to want to do that with _Freddie_ then why shouldn't he?" she asked flippantly.

"Because…" Carly began before catching herself; Sam eyed her expectantly. "Because… he only just met her!" was the best the brunette could improvise.

"Anyone would think you _liked_ the dork," the trouble-maker shot testily at her.

"It's not that," she insisted vehemently, "it's…" she narrowed her eyes, "we go down there, catch my boyfriend cheating on me and he decides to hook up with some tramp while he's at it?" She shook her head as she felt her cheeks flush.

"Uh huh," Sam retorted disbelievingly before Miss Briggs began yelling at the pair to listen while she was talking. One minute later the blonde was asleep.

On the other side of the school Freddie was unusually distracted during his computer class. He was fortunate that his interest and innate ability meant that he was well ahead of the rest of the class as her had switched from texting Trina to e-mailing her during this class, trying to do a little work while he waited impatiently for her to reply to him (she, of course, was in a different subject class so she had to be rather more surreptitious about her replies).

The brunette comedienne sat with her sister's friends as normal in the Asphalt Café for lunch. Unusually, however, she remained almost silent throughout, eating her lunch left-handed while her phone seemed glued to her right as she tapped off text after text.

"What's with her?" Jade snippily asked the younger Vega sister.

"I think she's talking to that iCarly guy who was down here at the weekend, y'know – Freddie?"

"Oh the one who came down with your boyfriend's other girl?" Jade reminded her unnecessarily.

Tori lowered her eyes to the table, trying to hide the hurt she felt from the rest of the group.

"Behave," Beck warned his girlfriend; she rolled her eyes at him and continued eating her burrito with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"So what's the deal with those two?" André asked his half-Latina friend.

"I dunno," she shrugged, "but they've been texting constantly all day, she was video-chatting him most of last night once he got back to Seattle. I've had a couple of texts from him but nothing like that," she sounded a little hurt with this disclosure as she thought back to the bonding session between the groups and how comfortable she had felt around the tech producer. He hadn't complained at all when she'd wrapped her arm around his shoulders and stood _very_ close to him. Clearly, she lamented silently, the connection she'd perceived between them had only been one way.

"He texted me too," Cat piped up, "just to say they got back ok." She waved her phone at her friends to prove it.

"I got that one too," piped up Robbie.

"It's the first message he's had all year," Rex added maliciously.

"Rex!" the ventriloquist hissed. "He's lying," he laughed nervously as the group eyed him sympathetically.

"Are you _ever_ going to put that phone down?" Sam snapped at the iCarly tech producer; he had ignored the two girls, and Wendy and Brad who were sat with them at lunch, throughout their break while he and Trina texted back and forth.

"_You_ didn't when _Jonah_ was on the scene," he reminded her.

"I was fourteen," she snarled back, "and look how that ended up."

"Well I doubt she'll try to make out with _my_ best friend," he shot Carly a quick smile. "That could _really_ kill things between us."

"So there's something between you two?" Carly asked in a higher pitched voice than normal.

"I don't know," he set the pear-shaped device on the table and faced her. "We only met for a few hours but it seemed we hit it off. Summer's not too far away so maybe we'll try and get together and see. Hopefully…" he trailed off and picked his phone up as it beeped again, missing Carly's frown.

* * *

"Trina, sweetie, have you got a minute?" Mr Vega called as the sisters entered the house after school.

"What is it, dad?" she asked, surprised to see him home before they were.

"You need to sit down," her mother said, pacing the room slowly.

"What's the matter?" Tori asked curiously.

"Tori, can you give us a minute please?" her dad asked pointedly. The younger sibling looked confused but agreed.

"I'll be in my room then," she informed them and made her way upstairs.

"What's the matter?" the elder sister asked as she took a seat. Her dad took a deep breath and traded a look with her mother.

* * *

"Trina? Are you ok? It looks like you've been crying," Freddie's voice was full of concern for his friend/maybe-something-more as they began their scheduled video chat later that evening.

The brunette diva nodded grimly and took a couple of deep, steadying breaths before replying, "Yeah, I'm just… I got some news today that has…" she trailed off helplessly before wiping her eyes and resuming the deep breathing in an attempt to keep her composure intact.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

"My parents… they told me today that I was adopted as a baby," she whispered out through her sobs. "I mean I… I guess deep down I always realised that they loved Tori more than me; now I know the reason why," and with this she dissolved into tears while he watched helplessly through sympathetic eyes.

* * *

_Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California._

_Wednesday, June 29, 2011_

Trina stared blankly out of the window as the aeroplane taxied down towards the runway, blinking to keep the tears from her eyes. As she reminisced on the events of the last few weeks she thought back on how eager, how (almost) _desperate_ she had been for the chance to see Freddie in person again. Now she was about to get her wish within the next couple of hours but the circumstances meant that she found herself wishing that such a meeting _wasn't_ going to take place.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading. I'd like to be clear that what I said about Trina in this chapter applies to **_**this story only**_** and has no bearing on any of my other work (particularly Freddie Goes To Hollywood). It's something I have wondered about as it **_**would**_** explain why the parents seem to feel so differently towards the two girls (other than Dan using Trina to get some cheap laughs) but as I say it's relevant to this story and no other that I have written… for now anyway.**

**I do hope you enjoyed it; please take a few moments to add a review and let me know what you thought (for good or bad) as your feedback really is appreciated. PD.**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. Thanks as always to those of you who read and reviewed. As a general point, Trina being adopted was something that made sense to me in terms of the Vega parents clearly loving Tori more than her. As for the ending, I'd draw your attention to the date, relative to the date of the prologue, and point out that Trina is on an aeroplane… why do you all think that is?**

**Challenge King – yes, Carly doesn't want any other girls vying for her affections when it comes to Freddie; based on the evidence from iCarly I don't think it's an unreasonable supposition.**

**Agent M – thanks; Trina's humanity can be developed as a result of what she has learned.**

**Fanficreader88 – You pretty much have it right; the girls treat Freddie like dirt but try to make sure nobody (especially other girls) can take him from them; Trina may just test that to breaking point… Trina **_**will**_** be in Seattle, but not just yet….**

**Irishfan62 – who her parents are isn't really relevant to the story. Maybe it will be explored and maybe it wnt.**

**Jeremy Shane – ask and ye shall receive; here is the next chapter…**

* * *

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School_

_Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA._

_Tuesday, June 14, 2011._

Trina had remained sombre ever since her 'parents' broke the surprising news to her the previous evening. After telling her they had let Tori know as well and the younger Vega had done her best to be supportive towards the older girl; she was, meanwhile, coming to terms with the news herself, along with the discovery that she didn't _really_ have a sister. Neither of the teenagers quite knew how to broach the subject, instead Tori settled for simply hugging Trina and assuring her that "I'm here, if you _ever_ need to talk".

Trina hadn't taken the younger girl up on the offer; things were just too raw for her to want to talk to Tori about them right now. Her later chat with Freddie, however, had given her a chance to talk through some of her feelings with a sympathetic and totally objective listener, along with giving her the opportunity to lament, cry and rail against the world; it was an opportunity that she took full advantage of and felt a little better as a result. The tech producer, meanwhile, sat and listened in silence; he could offer no real encouragement or words of wisdom for his friend but was there just to listen while she vented.

She had received one text this morning from Freddie – _Are you feeling ok?_ and had replied to it but they weren't having the sort of back-and-forth conversation that they had the previous day; along with her lower spirits it was something that Jade immediately picked up on.

"So, has that Freddie guy dumped your sister already?" she asked Tori with a smirk.

"No," the younger 'sister' replied, "I don't _think_ so anyway." She was unwilling to reveal Trina's secret to anybody else as it really wasn't hers to tell.

Up in Seattle the girls had also noted the lack of a constant stream of text messages. Freddie would check his phone occasionally to make sure he hadn't accidentally put it onto silent mode; every time it would confirm that he had no new messages. Carly smiled for the first time since the party as she jumped to the same conclusion that Jade had; Sam, meanwhile, was happy to see Carly in higher spirits (even if Freddie was the inadvertent cause of them) and hopeful that the boy would be miserable again if things had indeed ended between him and Trina.

The brunette web hostess was slowly coming to terms with the weekend's events and the thought that she would have Freddie back to his old self and that things would return to normal was certainly helping her to get over Steven. The two girls began eagerly discussing plans for the next iCarly, fully expecting Freddie to be glad of the distraction and the return to normality.

They were to be disappointed by the end of school as Carly asked,

"So Freddie, do you want to go with us to the Groovy Smoothie and begin planning the next episode of iCarly?"

"I can't," he sighed, "I've got to get home to video chat with Trina. I'll call round later and you can fill me in?"

Without waiting for a reply from the stunned girls he left the school building and headed for his car.

"But… what… huh?" Carly stuttered at the closing door. She turned to Sam with a look of bewilderment. "I thought she was done with him!"

"Me too, kiddo. Looks like she's even crazier than we thought."

_Vega Residence_

_Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA_

Trina drove herself and Tori back to their home after school. They entered the house and saw Mrs Vega in the kitchen making dinner.

"Hey mom," Tori greeted her brightly, dropping her bag and bouncing onto the couch.

"I'll be in my room," Trina informed them and went straight upstairs without a second glance to the others.

Mother and daughter traded looks after watching her go.

"It's taking _me_ some time to deal with the news; I've no idea how much more difficult it is for her," Tori noted sympathetically.

Her mother nodded and returned to the meal she was preparing. "We just have to hope she'll come around in time," she told the pot quietly.

The girl in question dumped her bag inside her bedroom, sat at her desk and pulled her laptop towards her. She booted it up and loaded up the web cat programme. Scanning her contact list she saw that Freddie was on-line so she immediately requested the chat and smiled broadly, and genuinely, as his face appeared on her screen.

"Hey handsome," she greeted him bashfully.

"Hi Trina, how are you doing?" The concern was evident on his face as he looked at her.

"Still dealing," she admitted. "I've tried not to talk to anyone because it hurts too much to bring it up. I can't talk to them, Tori offered but I'm not sure I can really talk to her either…" she trailed off.

"Why not?" he was curious. "I can't pretend to know what you're going through Trina but why can't any of them help you? Either Tori or your parents –"

"They're _not_ my parents," she cut him off bitterly.

"Really?" he asked in a curious voice. "They have been since you were a baby, they – and Tori – are the only family you've ever known, they must love you or they'd never have taken you in. From where I'm sitting, just because you're not their _biological_ daughter," he sighed, wondering if he was wading into waters he should avoid, "doesn't mean they're not still your parents, or that Tori's not your sister." He caught the look she gave him and backpedalled. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're going through and it's not my place to say stuff like that."

"No, Freddie," she said softly, "you're giving me a different perspective, different things to think about." Then she gave a small smile. "Actually right now I don't really _want_ to think about it anymore so can we talk about something else? Tell me how your day was."

"Well," he grinned, perhaps a bit more widely than was necessary, "I think Carly and Sam got the wrong idea with us not sending a hundred texts each today."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, they wanted me to sit there while they talked about ideas for iCarly," he snorted out a breath, "it's not like they actually value my opinion or ideas for stuff on the show. Anyway," he shook his head as she gave him a concerned look, "they seemed shocked when I said I had to head home to talk to you; maybe they figured we weren't talking anymore since we didn't text all day. If so then, fortunately, they were wrong," he grinned at the Angelino who returned it before turning towards her bedroom door as she heard a call from downstairs.

"I gotta go for now; mom says dinner's ready," she said without thinking. "What?" she asked at his grinning face.

"See, she's still your mom. Just something to think about," he said lightly. She smiled again.

"'Bye Freddie," and she clicked off. The Seattleite laced his fingers and used them to support his head as he leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. He hoped everything would work itself out for his friend in time. His phone beeped and he opened his eyes, feeling something he didn't expect as he looked at the phone; he was disappointed that the message was from Carly. _iCarly rehearsal in the studio. Now._ the message read. He pulled a face at the display and felt a pang of annoyance that she felt she could just _demand_ he show up. He tapped in a sarcastic reply but his thumb hovered over the send button. He pondered for a few moments before deleting the message and replacing it with one that informed her that he would be over within the next ten minutes. He set the alarm on his phone for fifteen minutes time and resumed his relaxed pose, ignoring the device when it beeped a few moments later to inform him that he had a new message.

Trina sat silently and lost in thought as she ate her dinner. Tori and her mother sat at the table with her and they watched the older teen with renewed concern as it _really _wasn't her to be this quiet.

"Thank you," she told the Vega matriarch quietly when she had finished; she further surprised the others by taking her plate and loading it into the dishwasher.

"Hey girls, I'm home," Mr Vega declared as he entered the house a moment later.

"Hi dad," Tori welcomed him happily.

"Hey," Trina said with a watery smile.

"Hi honey," his wife added.

Trina looked from one person to another as her eyes scanned the spacious open plan living area; she was deliberating on what she wanted to say to them and realised that she needed more time to formulate her words. Instead she muttered, "I'll be in my room," and returned to it, loading the chat software again and feeling disappointment when Freddie wasn't on-line. She took her phone from the pocket of her jean shorts and fired off a quick message to him before a soft knocking turned her attention to the doorway to her bedroom.

"Hey Treen," Tori said quietly, smiling at the girl she still thought of as her 'big sister'. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," the elder girl smiled with genuine warmth as she invited her in. She stood up as Tori approached her and shocked the younger girl by pulling her into a hug; after a moment Tori recovered her poise and wrapped her arms round Trina's back. "You're _still_ my baby sister," she whispered. Tori smiled happily against her shoulder.

_iCarly Studio, Shay home, Apartment 8-C Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, WA_

"Where have you been? What took you so long?" Carly demanded breathlessly.

After his alarm summoned him from his relaxing rest, Freddie had checked the phone and rolled his eyes at the seven messages from Carly urging him to be there quicker and the couple of threats from Sam demanding he show immediately. He shook his head and briefly deliberated blowing them off altogether; but he had made a promise to the brunette so he stretched his arms and legs before getting up and leaving his home. He knocked on the door to the Shay apartment and was granted admittance by Carly's eccentric older brother Spencer. He thanked the artist and made his way up to the studio in the freight elevator.

"I was busy; I was talking to my friend," he informed her. He knew that he was at best misleading her and at worst outright lying but really didn't care.

"Not good enough Freddie," Sam snarled, "she wanted you _here_ for rehearsal."

"It'll _have_ to be good enough," he retorted, then turned to Carly. "I'm not on-call 24/7 for the show; I have other things in my life."

Any response Carly may have had in mind was curtailed by Sam's snapping, "You mean _Trina_?"

He shook his head angrily and turned back to the brunette. "Do we _have_ a rehearsal? Because if it's just going to be you two bitching and accusing me then I have better things to do with my evening." He made for the door before Carly called to him.

"Freddie, wait, please? We _do_ have things to rehearse for the show."

He relented and took his position by the tech cart and watched as the two girls began to work through their routines. Both, however, seemed distracted and it wasn't long before Sam called a halt to proceedings.

"You know what? Forget it. Benson doesn't want to be here, he wants to be talking to his gank so –"

"WHAT?" Freddie asked in utter fury. "WHAT did you call her _Puckett_?" he snapped, taking a couple of steps closer to the blonde.

"Freddie…" Carly began, holding her hands up in a gesture of peace.

"No, Carly," he rounded on her, "there's no getting around this." He turned to the other girl and raised his right hand, pointing squarely at her with his index finger. "You will _never_ speak like that about her again," he whispered coldly. Sam swallowed at the rare flash of anger from the boy but met his gaze challengingly. "Y'know what? I'm done with this," he turned and stormed out of the studio, ignoring Carly's stutterings and didn't stop until he was back in his own home. He sat on the couch in the living room and took in a few deep breaths to control his rage.

A knock on the front door disturbed him half an hour later. He checked the spyhole and opened the door to reveal a timid-looking Carly.

"Hey," she greeted him.

He moved away from the door and silently motioned her inside.

The brunette walked past him and took a seat on the Bensons' couch. Freddie sat in the armchair next to her and eyed her expectantly.

"I'm sorry about Sam –" she began before he cut her off.

"It's not your place to apologise for her," he told her.

Carly bowed her head; she looked at Freddie and took an apprehensive breath wondering if he would continue. When he didn't she felt compelled to make her own comment.

"So, you and Trina?"

"What about us?" His tone was irritable.

"Well, you two are talking a lot," she observed.

"So?"

"Do you like her?" Carly was curious and impatient.

"What's it to you?" he fired back. "You don't like me like that; don't you want me to try to be happy?"

His challenging question silenced his friend; she bit her lip as she wondered about how to reply.

"I want you to be happy," she answered finally. "Do you think she'll make you happy?" Her tone was curious.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, "but we had a connection, we're getting to know one another. We'll see how it goes."

"Will you be back for iCarly on Friday?" she asked with a hint of desperation in her voice.

He nodded. "I'll be there for it; just don't expect me to be around Sam too much in her current mood."

"I'll talk to her," the brunette insisted. "Things will work out."

He nodded, though he felt he was humouring her; he had a feeling that, now his eyes had been opened to the girls' attitude towards him, that things would _never_ be right between the trio now.

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**AN: Thank you all for reading, please don't be shy about reviewing. PD31.**


	5. Chapter 4

__**Hello everyone, welcome to the latest chapter; I hope you're all well and hope you've all enjoyed this story so far.  
**

**My thanks go out to Challenge King, Guest, Agent-M, Subject87, Jeremy Shane and Fanfic-Reader-88 for their reviews and comments; you're feedback is always very much appreciated.**

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_Benson residence, Apartment 8-D, Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, Washington_

_Friday, June 17 2011._

"So things are going better now for you?" Freddie asked his friend with a mixture of hope and concern.

Trina nodded. "A little; I'm talking to… mom and dad." She still had to grit her teeth a little to force those last three words out but found herself able to describe her adoptive parents as such.

"How are things at home? Really?" he pried a little.

She shrugged. "It's something I'm still getting used to. Tori's been great… _don't_ tell her I said that." Freddie laughed at her instruction and she joined him a moment later. "And I'm coming to terms with the whole thing. They're trying, wanting to talk but I really don't know what I want to talk about _with_ them right now."

"Have they… y'know… told you anything about your biological parents? Do they even _know_ anything about them?"

Trina nodded and a few tears pricked her eyes; Freddie instantly regretted asking the question.

"I'm sorry," he conceded sincerely, "it's personal – and painful. I shouldn't be going there."

"No, Freddie," Trina cut him off before taking in a slightly rasping breath as she calmed herself. "It's just… dad said it was a domestic incident. My mom… my _real_ mom, she was in an abusive relationship and the guy – not my _real_ dad but her latest partner – was beating her and one night he… killed her." She bowed her head sorrowfully, a thousand miles away so did the iCarly tech producer. "Dad was one of the cops called who arrived just after he did it; the police got him but then he heard me crying and took me with them when the police left. Nobody came for me, no family from either side, so the authorities were putting me up for adoption. Dad had kept checking on me and," she shrugged, "I dunno, grown attached to me I guess so he and mom applied to adopt me and they agreed because they could already see something of a bond there."

"Do they have your official birth certificate and stuff so you do celebrate your _actual _birthday?"

"Birth_week_," the diva corrected him with a half-smile. "When you're as awesome as I am you need a whole week to celebrate," then she looked down with a hint of disgust on her face. "That's what I thought of myself – so awesome that one day wasn't enough."

"You _are_ awesome," the brown-haired teen insisted, "you're a beautiful, kind and talented girl and you gave me a second look – that's not something I'm used to from girls, not around here anyway."

"Carly?" she guessed.

"Among others. No girls want to know – well, except the ones at webicon," he grinned at the memory.

"What happened there?" the Angelino pressed.

"A _lot_ of girls there wanted a piece of me. It was fun."

"I can see why they would," the girl grinned flirtatiously. "If I was a thousand miles nearer you'd be fighting _me_ off all the time."

"What makes you think I'd try to fight you off?" the brown-eyed boy smirked back.

"Most of the boys here do," she admitted quietly. "Any of them I take an interest in just don't want to know."

"Why?" Freddie was genuinely surprised at this revelation. "Any guy would be lucky to have _you_ take an interest in them."

"I guess we're in the same boat then," the elder Vega sister shrugged. "Anyone we take an interest in just doesn't want to know."

"_I_ want to know you," he whispered determinedly.

"I want to know you too," she echoed. "Oh and in answer to your question, yes it is my actual birthday – week, whatever, that we celebrate. But my name was _supposed_ to be Danni, can you believe that?"

"I can see that," the Seattleite smiled at his friend before groaning as his phone beeped. "Time for iCarly, I've got to go before I upset Sam any more than I already have and she turns violent again."

"Huh?"

"We argued earlier in the week so I've stopped doing rehearsals – she said some stuff she shouldn't have. If I'm late for the show she'll probably swing on me again."

"Again? She's attacked you before?"

"She does it all the time."

"Why don't you stop her?"

"She's a girl, even if she is stronger than me. I can't just hit her can I?"

Trina looked unconvinced at his argument. "If she messes with you again let me know," Trina was getting angry. "I'll teach her a lesson next time I see her."

"Really?"

"Didn't I tell you? I'm a karate black belt."

"That's good to know," he chuckled. "Anyway, I'd better go; it really is time for the show. I assume you have plans for tonight so talk tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow sounds good." She smiled as she clicked off before her face dropped. "But I've no plans for tonight." She sighed and walked to her bedroom door. "Tori?" she called.

"Yeah?" her little sister responded from her own room.

Trina crossed the hallway and looked in. "You got any plans for tonight?"

"I'm heading with some of the guys to Karaoke Dokie."

"Can I come?" she asked humbly.

"Sure," Tori answered slightly uncertainly but with a warm smile. She knew how vulnerable her "big sis" was feeling right now but also knew her friends didn't necessarily share the sentiments, not least because they didn't know the story behind her mood. "About fifteen minutes?"

"Fifteen? I'd better get ready!" Trina turned and sped back to her own room. Tori grinned and shook her head at the older girl's antics.

_iCarly Studio, Apartment 8-C, Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, Washington_

The lift arrived at the studio and the door opened to reveal Freddie Benson. He walked over to the tech cart ignoring the furious complaints of the blonde co-hostess as he did so.

"You ready?" he casually asked her brunette best friend.

"_Yes_, just get things going you nub!" Sam interjected. He ignored her and continued to look at Carly.

"We're ready," she confirmed.

"Ok then," he tapped a few buttons on the laptop and picked up his camera. "In five, four, three, two…"

"I'm Carly!" she declared happily.

"And I'm Sam!" the blonde had turned her glower into a smile as the show started.

"And this is… iCarly!" they declared in unison.

The show went off without a hitch and Freddie surprised the girls by lingering at the end.

"Any plans for the evening Carls?" he asked her casually.

"No, nothing, not-a-one," her voice was light but there was a sadness behind the tone as she thought about Steven and exactly _why_ she had no plans. "Sam?"

"I got a date with a plate of ham," she declared and left the studio for the Shay's kitchen.

"Do you want to go get a smoothie or something?" he asked the brunette.

"Sure, I'll just grab my purse and – "

"It's ok, my treat," he offered generously.

"Like a date?" her voice was humorous but had a hint of suspicion to it.

"Two friends going for a smoothie – that's all," he insisted, raising his hands in mock surrender.

"Oh, ok," Carly found herself feeling almost _disappointed_ with the vehemence of his denial but mentally shrugged it off. It's not like she was ready for a relationship, having only dumped her boyfriend of three months a week ago, but seeing Freddie insist that he _didn't_ want to try anything..? The web star found it an unwelcome change to their normal dynamic.

The two sat in the Groovy Smoothie together fifteen minutes later; Freddie was enjoying the new Apple Assault that T-Bo had recently introduced while Carly sucked down her Strawberry Splat.

"So you're not talking to Trina tonight?" she asked timidly, knowing the Los Angeles girl had been a bone of contention for them recently.

"We talked before the show but she's busy tonight," he explained.

"How are you two getting on…? I mean are you…" she paused and tried again. "Are you trying a long-distance thing or what?"

He sighed, not in annoyance or frustration but more in an attempt to formulate his thoughts. "We met each other once for a couple of hours and hit it off. We're still getting to know one another. If we think it's worth looking at more than just friends and chatting then maybe we'll see over the summer. For now, I don't know what we are other than that."

She nodded. "Well whatever you want, I hope it works out for you," she forced herself to say in a sincere tone.

"Thanks Carls." He gave her a warm smile and she returned it half-heartedly. "So how are you since the whole _Steven_ thing?"

"Dealing," she responded simply. "It's going to take me some time; we were together for three months after all." She returned her attention to her smoothie as Freddie's phone announced a new text message.

He sniggered as he read it and his smile broadened as he tapped off a reply. He began chuckling softly when another message arrived, causing Carly to lean curiously towards him to try and find out what was going on.

"Trina's with the others at a karaoke club," he explained. "I told her to get one of them to video her singing and send it to me and she said they all ran away when she asked them."

"Sounds like they're having fun," she observed.

"I hope so, those two need some fun." Then, to answer Carly's puzzled expression, the boy elaborated, "Well Tori's, obviously, going through the same thing that you are and Trina… well she had some big news too as well recently, which she's taken pretty hard."

"Anything serious?"

"Yes, but it's not my secret to tell."

Carly nodded in understanding and finished her drink.

"That was good, like old times," she observed. "Are we heading back now?"

"Sure, unless you want to go anywhere else?"

"Nah, not tonight," she declined so the two friends headed back to Bushwell Plaza. Freddie made to enter his own home before Carly called out,

"You can hang over here for a bit if you want while your mom's at work?"

"Thanks but won't Sam be there?"

"Yeah," she said slowly.

"Then I'd rather not. I'll see you later Carls."

"Oh. Well, could I hang with you over here for a bit instead?"

"I guess, if you want."

"I do," she insisted so they turned left instead of right.

_Karaoke Dokie, Los Feliz_

_Los Angeles, California_

Trina had ignored the pleas of her sister's friends and signed up to sing in the competition. Jade and Cat were disappointed (Jade more like _furious_) to learn that their bans, imposed by the owner's daughter, had not been lifted so the two were not allowed to sing. Cat didn't let that spoil her night as she enjoyed spending time with her friends; Jade, on the other hand, spent the evening scowling and brooding, pointedly ignoring Tori's attempts to cheer her up.

The elder Vega had a great time (even though she was unable to recruit anybody to film her singing to send it to Freddie) and managed to forget her troubles for an evening.

"It's good to see you smiling again," Tori whispered during a lull in proceedings.

"It's good to smile again," she replied before resting her left hand on top of her sister's right. "Thank you Tori, for letting me tag along tonight."

"Of course, what's _family_ for?" She emphasised the word and the two shared a smile.

Unsurprisingly (to everybody else at least) Trina did not win the singing competition but still felt it had been a really good night and drove home happily, chatting away with her younger sister.

"Hey girls, did you have a good evening?" Mr Vega asked as they entered the house.

"We did, yes," Tori told him.

"But it was _exhausting_," Trina sighed theatrically. "I'm going to bed. Good night… dad," she gave him a broad smile and walked over to hug him.

"Good night sweetie," he whispered, kissing her forehead.

_Apartment 8-D, Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, Washington_

The two brown-haired Seattleite teens had spent a pleasant couple of hours chatting while watching the few unblocked TV channels in the Benson household before Marissa returned home and decided it was everybody's bedtime.

"Thanks for tonight; it was fun," Carly told him in a low, sincere voice. She pulled him into a friendly hug and he gently patted her back.

"It was, it's nice just to hang with you for a while," he admitted. "Goodnight Carly."

"'Night Freddie," she flashed her smile at him as she left for her own home.

Freddie pulled his phone from his pocket after he closed and locked his front door. He smiled at Trina's text message, gushing over how good her evening had been and he sent off a reply confirming that his had also been a lot of fun.

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**AN: Thanks as always for reading; please let me know what you think of it so far. PD.**


	6. Chapter 5

**AN: Welcome one and all to chapter 5 of this little story; I hope you are all well. As ever my thanks to those who read and, particularly, reviewed the last chapter. Challenge King, yes the two are getting a little closer and Carly is a little disappointed that she and Freddie are **_**not**_** so close right now. Let's see how that evolves.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – Trina's getting herself back on track after getting the news she did. Maybe, just maybe, it's given her a slightly different perspective on life.**

**Agent-M, thank you for your kind words. I've actually found it a lot of fun to explore Trina's character by writing a story that focusses on her; she's very much underutilised in that regard.**

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_Benson Residence, Apartment 8-D, Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, WA_

_Tuesday, June 28__th__ 2011._

"And things are no better?" Trina asked him sympathetically through the screen.

"No, it looks pretty terminal where Sam's concerned," Freddie conceded. "The problem's on her," he added some steel to his voice, "and her _unwillingness_ to accept that I'm allowed a life outside of the web show. She tries to dress it up as she's doing it all for Carly but I guess she just gets off on making my life a living hell."

It was true that Sam had been attempting to put more and more demands on his time over the last week and a half; ever since the argument between the two 'side-kicks' over what the blonde had said about Trina (something he had resolved to keep from the diva if at all possible). While the show itself the following night had been a success, and he had spent a pleasant evening with Carly afterwards, Sam's continued presence across the hallway meant that he had spent zero time there, other than for last week's show. Again he and the brunette co-host had been out for smoothies afterwards (this time he coerced him into seeing a movie as she admitted that she missed spending time with him outside of school). She had asked him a couple of times over the last week if he would be coming over to hang at her home but he declined due to the fact that the blonde would be there; he wanted nothing to do with her until she apologised for what she said about his Angelino friend – and Samantha Puckett does not apologise.

So the impasse had prevailed despite Carly's attempts to mediate; Freddie avoided the blonde at lunch, which consequently meant avoiding Carly too – much to her disappointment (though she knew that hanging with _him_ would lead to Sam getting into even more trouble than usual, something she didn't want to have to deal with the aftermath of so she stuck with her co-star and tried to find some time to spend with her tech producer as well). It was a fine balancing act for the younger Shay sibling as she began to feel her friend slipping away from her due to the wedge the blonde had driven into the trio.

"Do you miss them?" Trina asked curiously.

"I miss hanging with _Carly_," he clarified, "but Sam? My life has been so much more peaceful these last few days with her not being around. I'm really starting to wonder why I stuck around her for as long as I did – I must have been crazy."

"You had a thing for Carly," the adopted Vega reminded him in a teasing voice, "that makes you do crazy things; I should know."

"Oh?" he raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her semi-confession.

"I could tell you stories – but I wouldn't want you getting jealous now," she grinned flirtatiously.

"No, we wouldn't want that," he laughed; Trina joined in a moment later.

_Vega Residence, Hollywood Hills_

_Los Angeles, CA_

A knock on her door distracted the brunette from her chat.

"Treen? Sorry to disturb you but…" Tori stuck her head around the door.

"No, no, come in," the elder girl motioned her sister to enter.

"Oh, hey Freddie," Tori smiled at the screen as she saw who the girl was talking to.

"Hi Tori, how are you?"

"Good thanks." The singer turned her attention to Trina. "Mom said that dinner will be about five minutes and to remind you that you need to take me to the audition afterwards."

"Oh, I forgot about that," she groaned. "Not a problem, we'll head out straight after."

"Audition?" Freddie asked curiously.

"She landed one for a roll in a TV show."

"Really?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, it would just be a small part but –" Tori attempted to play it down.

"But _what_ an opportunity!" The Seattleite was excited for the half-Latina.

"Yeah Tori, get excited," Trina encouraged her.

"Did you go for it as well Trina?"

"No, Sikowitz – the guy from the hot tub? He's one of our teachers and he put this one forward and nobody else." Trina kept her tone jovial but there was a detectable trace of bitterness that caused the younger girl to pull an uncomfortable face. "Anyway, we'd better go for dinner – talk to you tomorrow?"

"I'll be here. Good luck Tori."

"Thanks Freddie." And with that the two sides signed off.

_Ridgeway Junior High School,_

_Seattle, WA_

_Wednesday 29__th__ June 2011._

"Who texted you?" Carly asked as she sidled over to Freddie by his locker, leaving Sam unattended and looking for mischief over by the girls' lockers; she would soon find some.

"Trina," he answered with a smile. _I should have guessed_, the brunette thought, resisting the temptation to roll her eyes.

"Care to share?" she asked instead.

"Her sister had an audition last night; it went well and she got positive feedback but didn't get the part." He shook his head regretfully. "She made the final shortlist apparently but they picked someone else." He moved to his contacts, found the younger sister and began tapping off a commiseratory text to her, explaining as such to his friend when she asked.

"Good idea, I'll do the same." Carly reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her own phone, firing off a quick message of support to her one-time love rival. She threw a glance over to her locker after doing so and noted the lack of a certain blonde. "Where's Sam gone?" she wondered aloud.

Freddie bit his tongue; he didn't feel that "don't know and don't care" would help things in any way so instead he opted for, "I need to get to class; it's gym, other side of school, got to get changed first."

Carly nodded. "See you at lunch?" she asked, more in hope than expectation.

"Not if Sam's with you," he replied tersely; the web hostess nodded sadly before scanning the hallway again for a sign of her best friend. Finding none she decided instead to make her way to her own class; Sam was in the same lesson as her so she figured they'd catch up soon enough.

It came as a surprise, therefore, to the star when her co-hostess didn't appear at all during the period; nor did Mr Howard comment on her absence when he took attendance of the class at the start. She opted to broach this with him at the end of the lesson.

"Uh, Mr Howard?"

He looked up from his desk. "Yes, Shay?"

"You didn't seem surprised when Sam wasn't in class today."

"No, she was in Principal Franklin's office just beforehand, hopefully being expelled at last."

"What for?" Carly was shocked by the news.

"She and some other girls were throwing golf balls at the soccer team. They got caught."

"I leave her alone for two minutes…" the brunette muttered.

"So with any luck that will be one less problem at this school," the bespectacled teacher stood up from his desk and collected his briefcase. Carly took that as her cue to leave.

_Benson Residence, Apartment 8-D Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, WA_

"Was she expelled?" Trina asked when Freddie relayed the news he'd received from his dark-haired friend.

"Suspended," he clarified. "Which could improve things for me because it'll mean Carly and I can talk again during school and over lunch."

He glanced around the living area of the apartment; he was sat there with his computer on his lap as his mother was working this evening.

"Have you made any plans for the summer?" the comedienne asked suddenly. "I was just wondering, what with school finishing in a week or so, whether you were going to be busy."

"Nothing yet," he disclosed. "I'll probably look for a part-time job, maybe mom and I will go away for a week or so – probably to the East Coast to see some family out there and just be away from home for a bit. How about you?"

"Nothing planned yet; I'll probably have to stay in LA for most of it while I look for internships or anything else that will help me get a foot in the door for performing. Sadly even someone as awesome as me still needs to know the right people," she laughed. "Tori is trying to get us on a trip to Yerba, some Caribbean island; all expenses paid so that would be cool and a really good thing to do for a week. But I was _wondering_ if you maybe wanted to come and visit for a week or two? Give us a chance to get to know one another in person instead of over a web chat?"

He nodded; the idea of not only spending a little _more_ time away from Sam but spending it with Trina seeing if there _was_ anything other than friendship to be looked at was certainly an appealing prospect to the tech genius. He was about to reply when there was a knock on the front door.

"I got to answer that but yeah that sounds good," he told her as he set the Peartop on the coffee table with the screen facing the door and got up to answer it. He was surprised to see two police officers stood outside. _What the hell has Sam done and how does it involve me?_ went instantly through his head.

"Mr Benson?" the older of the two asked.

"I'm Freddie Benson," he confirmed with a nod. Trina watched the scene with concern, barely able to hear their voices at the distance they were stood from the table.

"May we come in?"

"I guess," he gestured inside. The two officers hovered inside the door but invited him to take a seat, which he did; he momentarily forgot that his chat with Trina was still open.

"I'm sorry to report that there was an incident at the hospital earlier tonight," the older cop began. "A patient had been brought in under the influence of recreational drugs; he turned delusional and… well he went berserk in the ward he was in. Before he could be restrained he got hold of a scalpel and some other medical implements and began swinging wildly.

Freddie gasped; Trina did as well. "My mom – is she ok?" the diva heard him ask.

"The assailant swung on her and cut her throat with the scalpel before stabbing her with it. She was rushed to surgery but…" the cop took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, son, she was pronounced dead half-an-hour ago."

"No!" Freddie insisted. "That can't be right, she can't be dead. You… you're wrong; you _have_ to be wrong."

The look on the cops' faces told him otherwise and his shoulders slumped in defeat as realisation set in. The first tears began to leak out.

"Is there anyone you want us to notify or to call over?" the younger cop asked. The boy shook his head as the sobs racked his body. "I'm sorry for your loss," he mumbled inadequately.

Trina had been stunned into silence by the news. Without clicking off the chat and, realising that her friend had no other family in the locality, she knew what she had to do. She grabbed a couple of changes of clothing while browsing for flights. Fifteen minutes later she was bringing her bag downstairs.

"Mom, I have to go out for a while," she announced as she headed for the front door.

"Where are you going?" Tori asked.

"Seattle," she called as she left, pulling the door shut behind her.

"WHAT?" the two Vega girls asked in unison, looking at one another. Tori rose and rushed to the door, opening it in time to see Trina's car pulling out of the driveway. The girl pulled her phone from her jeans pocket and dialled her sister's number.

"What is it Tori?" the elder sister asked, keeping one hand on the wheel.

"What's going on? Why are you saying you're going to Seattle on a Wednesday night?"

"Because that's where I'm going; I'm heading to the airport and my flight's in ninety minutes."

"Put her on speaker," urged the Vega matriarch; Tori complied.

"Trina, why are you going to Seattle," the girl's younger sister tried again.

"Freddie's mom died today; he got the news a couple of minutes ago while we were talking online and I have to go and be with him."

"But b – b…" the young actress stuttered.

"My friend _needs_ me, Tori; I'm going."

"Well wait, I'll come too."

"I got the last seat on that flight. Look, the funeral is probably not going to be before Friday so if you and the others want to you should be able to get up for it. I'll call when I have more details once I'm up there." And with that she rung off.

Mother and daughter looked at one another. "Trina Vega," Tori began in exasperation, "the girl who changes a light bulb by holding it in the air while the universe revolves around her – then she does _this_."

"Do you want to go up there?" Her mother asked as her practical side kicked in.

"Well yeah, of course I want to be there for him at this time."

"The others probably will as well. You call them, I'll look for flights for you all after school tomorrow."

Tori nodded and began the task of informing the others.

On the off-chance she stole into her older sister's room to see if she was still talking to Freddie; she wasn't and the Seattle native was no longer on-line. Her heart broke as she wondered what was going through his mind right now.

_Benson Residence, Apartment 8-D Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, WA_

The policemen had lingered for around another quarter-of-an-hour in an attempt to help Freddie over the initial shock of their news. After they left he closed and locked the door, trying to hide from the world, and, seeing that Trina's room was empty, he signed out of the chat; he was in no mood to talk to anybody and didn't have enough of a functional brain to wonder about what the brunette had heard, knew or was thinking. He looked around the apartment; reminders of his mother were _everywhere_ so he retreated to his room, his inner sanctum, flopped on his bed and began to weep.

_Seattle-Tacoma Airport_

Trina disembarked in a hurry; she had belligerently talked her way into a prime seat on the aeroplane and as such was able to ensure she was among the first people to get off it. With just a small bag she didn't have to wait at baggage claim, instead she left the airport as quickly as she could and bullied her way to the front of the queue for the taxi cabs, demanding a driver take her to Bushwell Plaza. The roads were mercifully clear at this time of night and twenty minutes later the brunette reached her destination.

The Los Angeles native shoved some money into the driver's hand and thanked him as she gathered her bag and left the cab. She gave a funny look to the screaming doorman she encountered in the building's lobby before spying the elevator and making her way to the 8th floor, where she knew he lived. She switched her phone back on, intending to inform her parents of her safe arrival when she got a moment.

"Freddie! Freddie!" she hammered on the door of apartment 8-D as she reached it; the knocking drowned out the beep from her phone informing her that she had received at least one text message. The door opened to reveal a brown-haired boy with a deadened look in his eyes but one who wore a surprised expression. Her heart broke at the sight of him and the thought of what he was experiencing and she pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh Freddie, I'm so, so sorry."

Behind her back the door to apartment 8-C opened and another brunette joined the gathering.

"Trina?" Carly asked in near disbelief as she saw a girl that should be a thousand miles south of her. "What's going on? What are you doing here?" Then the girl saw Freddie. "Freddie? Are you ok?" she asked in concerned tones.

He shook his head and opened his mouth trying to answer her, only to find that he could not; instead he looked to his new-found friend to help him, giving her permission to say what had happened.

"It's his mom," she began before tears began to leak from her own eyes again, "she's been killed. Freddie got word…" she glanced at her watch, "maybe four hours ago."

"Oh my God," Carly whispered, crossing the short distance to the pair and trying to hug Freddie as best as she could with Trina holding onto him. "How did you know about this?" she asked her fellow brunette after releasing the boy.

"We were chatting on-line when two cops came and delivered the news."

"And you just dropped everything to come up here?" the web star asked in surprise.

"What else could I do for my friend?" she responded simply before her phone beeped again. She sighed and pulled the device from her shorts. "It's from Tori," she informed the Seattle pair, "she and the others are coming up tomorrow."

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**AN: So that's how Trina came to be in Seattle and why she was sat on the plane a couple of chapters ago. Thank you for reading; I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that you come back soon for the next part of the story. Until then please let me know what you thought of it by submitting a review; they really are much appreciated. PD.**


	7. Chapter 6

**AN: Hello and welcome to the last chapter of this story; I hope you've all had a good week. My thanks as always to those who read and reviewed the previous chapter; Twilight Warrior 627, Fanfic-reader-88 for his typically excellent and in-depth thoughts, Challenge King for suggesting the pairing in the first place, M.D.G.1986 and Jeremy Shane – my thanks to you all.**

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_Benson Residence, Apartment 8-D, Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, WA_

_Thursday, June 30 2011._

Trina groaned as she awoke; she checked the time on one of the clocks dotted around the living area – shortly after 10 a.m. _It made sense_, she reasoned, _that I slept so late… it was a late, long night_. After arriving at the complex around eleven the previous night she, along with Carly, had sought to comfort Freddie after the boy had received the shattering news of his mother's slaying. His brunette neighbour had stayed there well into the night (along with her brother Spencer who came over when Carly passed the news on to him; Sam was conspicuous by her absence) until, around 4, Freddie had finally cried himself to sleep. The Bensons' lodger, T-Bo, had arrived at the apartment shortly after Trina; his first reaction to the news of Marissa's death was to wonder what it meant for him and his lease – a reaction that led to the Angelino girl chasing him into the Guest Room, where he remained for the rest of the night.

The Shay siblings had retired across the hallway once Freddie had fallen asleep (after Spencer first helped Trina to carry Freddie into his room where the girl tucked him tenderly into his bed). She then attempted to make herself as comfortable as possible on the couch in the main body of the apartment and slept reasonably well; she hadn't stirred when T-Bo had left for work that morning.

Checking her phone the elder Vega sister noticed a number of texts from her parents and Tori, checking up on her and, in the latter's case, informing her of the flight that she and her friends would be taking up to Seattle later that day. She scrolled through her contacts and placed a call.

"Hey mom," she began when her mother answered.

_Asphalt Café, Hollywood Arts High School,_

_Los Angeles, California_

Tori and the others sat glumly at their usual table by the elevated stage in the café. The half-Latina picked absently at her lunch, not feeling particularly hungry as her thoughts were with her sister and new friend a thousand miles north. Cat was in an unusually sombre mood and even Jade's demeanour lacked its usual bite and snippiness due to the malaise of the situation surrounding the brown-haired Seattle boy.

"So what time is our flight?" Robbie asked the singer.

"Five-fifteen," she answered, "so we'll need to head straight to the airport after we get out of here at three because traffic could be bad. I have our tickets right here and we don't need to check any baggage so that'll save us some time."

"Poor Freddie; how is he?" the red-head asked in a dull whisper. Tori, unused to seeing the normally ebullient girl looking so down placed a consoling hand on her forearm as she answered.

"Trina says he's obviously devastated about the whole thing. She and Carly are just sat with him making sure he's not alone at the moment."

Beck nodded; like the others he seemed completely at a loss for something to say. Instead he tried to force some more lunch down while Jade leaned against his shoulder, the couple taking comfort in one another's presence at this time.

The afternoon dragged on for the friends as they watched the clock feeling both useless while they weren't with the Seattle boy and sharing a view that the afternoon at school was pointless for them given their minds were clearly elsewhere. Eventually, however, the final bell rang and, after a quick stop at their lockers, Jade and Cat got into Beck's car, with Tori and Robbie getting into André's and the six making their way through the city's traffic to the airport, checking in and reaching the gate with a little time to spare before boarding, time Jade used to get coffee while Tori checked in with her sister and the others sat waiting for their flight to be called.

The teenagers arrived at Freddie's home around eight-thirty to be greeted by Trina as they knocked on the door.

"Hey sis," Tori began, giving the older girl a hug, "uh, how's it gone today?"

"How do you think?" her elder sister asked a little impatiently before taking a breath. "Sorry, I'm just a little tired; it was a late night. Freddie's asleep again right now but he's barely said a word all day." The girl edged to the side to grant the sextet entrance to the apartment where they saw Carly; like Cat she lacked her usual bubble and bright-eyed demeanour.

"Hey guys," the brunette greeted them, hugging each one in turn. Jade stiffened slightly when it was her turn but, maybe due to the situation, she refrained from comment or threat of bodily harm.

"I put a pot of coffee on…" Trina began, gesturing to the kitchen; Jade was in the small area before she could finish the sentence, searching it for crockery.

"Do we need more cups? I can get some from our apartment," Carly offered before bustling off.

The commotion roused a tired-looking Freddie and he emerged from his room rubbing his eyes and pushing a hand through his untidy hair. He looked around, momentarily surprised to see the gathering that was taking place in his living room; he hadn't realised it was so late. He wouldn't get an opportunity to comment as he was engulfed by the little red-haired girl a moment later.

"Freddie; I'm so, so sorry," she whispered morosely as she hugged him tight. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around her, taking comfort from her presence. Tori followed suit when Cat released him and even Jade took her turn while the guys contented themselves with consoling hands on his shoulders. Carly returned with her hands full of cups and with Spencer in tow and the group sat together supporting their bereaved friend.

Trina filled the newcomers in on the few events of the day so far. Carly had come over shortly after the Angelino woke up; they talked, mostly about Freddie and his mother, until the boy himself surfaced a little after eleven. Carly had prepared a brunch for them, taking most of the ingredients from her own home (rather than the stuff Mrs Benson had kept) and the two girls had practically force-fed Freddie his first meal since hearing the news. After that they had just sat with him in silence for a while until he had dozed off mid-afternoon and they had put him to bed again and continued their own conversation for a few more hours. Carly had been surprised by just how much she liked the company of the older girl, something she certainly wasn't expecting to feel just a couple of short weeks ago when she learned that the elder sister had taken something of a shine to Freddie, a shine that he seemed to reciprocate.

"What was she like?" Cat piped up all of a sudden, setting her coffee down on the table. All eyes turned to Freddie, with the Shays biting their lips to withhold any potentially inappropriate responses and giving him particularly guarded expressions as they wondered exactly how he would describe his late mother.

"She was…" he began slowly, seemingly deep in thought about how to formulate his words, "a health nut, she freaked over food, she fussed over everything, wanted to wrap me up and protect me from the world – including girls," she shot a sly side-along glance at Carly who gave a small grin. "But she was my mom and I loved her. I just… I can't believe she's never coming home again." He covered his face with his hands and a fresh batch of tears began to fall. Trina, sat next to him on the couch, put her arms around him in a flash and pulled him close again.

"Let it out Freddie," she whispered, "just let it all out."

_Friday, July 1 2011_

It was another long night for Trina. Having just slept away a bit of the day Freddie was sat up late into the night and his friends, fresh from their flight up to Seattle, soon began to feel the effects of their journey. The Shays managed to find a bed in the Guest Room for Jade and Cat (Sam would share Carly's room) while, at Freddie's insistence, Tori took his bed. He offered the room to Trina as well as the girl began to droop but she insisted on staying with him. Beck, Robbie and André were unsure where they would be staying but settled for couches, beanbags and easy chairs dotted around the Shay apartment.

Despite her fatigue Trina was determined to continue her efforts in keeping Freddie's spirits from descending further. She encouraged him to tell her stories of the happier times he and Marissa had shared, interspersing the reminisces with some of her own about her life with her family and how she was coming to a new equilibrium with them in the light of her adoption. The boy cracked a genuine smile at the news; he was happy that his friend's home life was getting back to some semblance of normal, even at the same time as his had fallen apart.

When the Shay household awoke in the morning the place was abuzz with teenager vying for the bathrooms and getting ready, in between trying to get a share of the breakfast Spencer made before Sam could devour it all. Her nonchalant attitude towards the reasons for the Angelinos arrival did not sit well with Jade; a glaring match threatened to break out between the two before Cat pointed out to her friend that they needed to get ready.

"Have you got something to wear?" Carly asked the blonde after the guests had gone upstairs.

"To what?" she returned, sounding genuinely confused.

"To Freddie's mom's funeral," the brunette explained with a tone that cried 'obviously'.

"I'm not going," Sam turned her attention back to the TV.

"What? Why not?" the other girl was shocked.

"I hated her; I'm not going to her funeral."

"But you have to – if nothing else then to support Freddie!"

"I hate him too," she spared her co-host a glance before resuming watching the television.

Carly's jaw dropped and she gawped at her best friend for a few seconds before shaking her head in disgust and making her way up to her room to get dressed.

Shortly before eleven the cars arrived to take the mourners to the church for the funeral service. Freddie, guided by Trina, led the way. The pair, along with Tori and Carly, got into the first car with Beck, Jade, Cat, Robbie and Andre getting into the second one. A third car took Freddie's aunts and their children, who had arrived that morning in Seattle and reached Bushwell Plaza around half an hour earlier.

The tech producer delivered a tearful but moving eulogy for his mother during the service and sat back down afterwards to receive a consoling hug from Trina. Marissa's sister was next to speak, sharing a couple of stories of their childhood and trying to lighten the mood with some of the happier and more amusing memories.

After the burial the party returned to the Benson apartment for a wake and something to eat; Spencer, along with Freddie's aunt, made a trip to one of the local restaurants to get some take-out for them all. It was another sombre affair but Freddie was glad of the support and company he was receiving from everyone and made a point to tell them that.

Late in the evening the gathering dispersed; the Shay's guests returned with the siblings across the hallway, where Sam experienced Carly's wrath in a verbal unloading about how she had abandoned Freddie in his time of need, something the blonde found herself able to brush off worryingly easily. Tori hovered uncertainly in the Benson living room as Freddie seemed ready to get some sleep himself.

"Tori?" the boy called to her. "Take my mom's room, please." He gestured to the room.

"Are you sure?" she asked tentatively. He nodded and guided her there.

He then gestured to Trina to take his room, straightening out the bedding for her and turning to leave the room to make himself comfortable on the couch. The brunette caught his arm as he passed and he stopped, turning to her with a quizzical look.

"We could share?" she offered, before amending in response to his raised eyebrows, "I mean, if you don't want to be alone and just need some company for the night."

He gave a wan smile and, after getting ready for bed, slid under the covers. Trina pulled him into a hug and he held her before falling asleep surprisingly quickly, but not before his latest batch of tears had soaked into her pyjama top. Once she was sure he was asleep the girl kissed the top of his head and extricated herself from his embrace, trying to get comfortable and fell asleep herself while holding his hand gently.

_Saturday, July 2 2011._

Freddie awoke the next morning and opened his eyes to see two brown ones staring into them.

"Hey, how did you sleep?" Trina asked with a small smile, giving him a quick hug.

"Surprisingly well, thank you." He sat up quickly as she loosened her hold on him and got out of bed.

"Are you ok Freddie?" the girl asked in concern.

He held his head in his hands as he turned on the spot to face her. "I can't stay here – in Seattle I mean," he began. "There are too many reminders, too much pain. I… I don't know what I'm going to do but I know I can't stay here."

"You could come back with us to LA," she offered suddenly, a little shine lighting up her eyes. "You can stay with me and my family, at least for a little while while you figure things out. Maybe even enrol at Hollywood Arts until the end of the year; you'd already have some friends but it would also be a fresh start for you away from the pain and the memories."

He stood stock still for a few moments while he contemplated her words. The idea was impossible and yet irresistible. "I uh… wow Trina, that's a really generous offer. I need to give it some thought."

Trina nodded. "I don't fly back until tomorrow night. That's a little time to think it over and maybe decide to come back with us."

An urgent knocking on the front door curtailed the conversation. The man of the house made his way over and opened it, just as Tori emerged, looking a little sleep-deprived, from the master bedroom; she waved to her older sister and they non-verbally conversed on the events of the previous night; Tori widened her eyes slightly at the sight of Trina in the doorway of Freddie's room but the more rational part of her mind, along with the slightly scornful expression the older girl wore at the sight of the younger's raised eyebrows, dismissed the notion immediately from her mind that anything could have happened last night.

The opening door revealed Carly stood there with a tray in hand; behind her Spencer, the three boys and Jade also bore food and coffee while Cat held a mug but had used her free hand to knock on the door. Freddie invited the others in, fielding questions from his neighbour about how he was. They shared a pleasant breakfast, again Trina noted Sam's absence; it was something that seemed to be upsetting Carly.

"How are you _really_?" Carly asked, taking him to one side as the others cleared away the meal.

He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. He sighed sadly, knowing how much his words would upset her.

"I'm going to leave Seattle." Carly gasped at his announcement. "I just can't stay around here, in this department, looking around the place and seeing so much that will remind me of mom. It's only a year before I'd be gone for college anyway so I'm going to move things forward a bit and make a fresh start."

Carly blinked the new tears from her eyes that were beginning to form as she recovered from the shock of his news. She managed a little nod of her head. "Where will you go?" she breathed.

He gestured to their southern friends. "Trina has suggested I go back to LA with them and the idea's definitely appealing to me. To know some people there but not have," he spread his arms and looked around his home, "all _this_ to remind me every day of what I've lost; it's definitely alluring."

The brunette pulled him into a hug. "I'm going to miss you so much," she whispered. "I'll come down over summer and visit you," the girl promised.

"I'd like that. I'd like that a lot," Freddie told her.

The boy sought out Trina a few minutes later as she and the others finished cleaning up.

"I have things to finish up here; this place and pack up…" he gestured around him, "_my life_, but if it's ok with your parents then LA sounds great, at least until I figure things out."

"I called them a few minutes ago and they said they'd be happy for you to come back with us and stay for a little while. Can Tori and I help you sort anything out?"

He nodded. "Let's make a start."

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**AN: And that's the end of this story. I really don't know about a continuation/sequel, as I'm wary of it just being a rehash of the other 'Freddie in LA' stories that I and others have already done, but thank you very much for reading and I do hope that you have all enjoyed this story and this slightly unconventional pairing. PD.**


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